Chigwell
Encyclopedia
Chigwell is a civil parish and town in the Epping Forest
Epping Forest (district)
Epping Forest is a local government district of the county of Essex, England. It is named after Epping Forest, of which the district contains a large part...

 district of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. It is located 11.6 miles (18.7 km) north east of Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...

. It is served by two London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

 stations and has a London (020) area code.

Etymology

According to P. H. Reaney's Place-Names of Essex, the standard guide to etymology in the county, the name means 'Cicca's well', Cicca being an Anglo-Saxon
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

 personal name. In medieval sources the name appears with a wide variety of spellings including "Cinghe uuella" and Chikewelle". Folk etymology has sought to derive the name from a lost 'king's well', supposed to have been to the south-east of the parish near the border of what is now the London Borough of Redbridge. There were several medicinal springs in Chigwell Row documented by Miller Christy in his book History of the mineral waters and medicinal springs of the county of Essex, published in 1910. The proposal by 18th-century local historian Nathaniel Salmon that the "-well" element in the name derives from Anglo-Saxon weald (forest), indicating Chigwell's location in a royal demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...

 rather than Anglo-Saxon wielle (well) has long been superseded by modern onomastic study and is no longer credible.

History

Traditionally a rural farming community, but now largely suburban, Chigwell was mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 and later lauded by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 in the novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty; the Maypole Inn is based on the King's Head inn, though the name was taken from the Maypole public house in Chigwell Row; and it is likely Dickens visited both hostelries. Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 frequently visited Chigwell, which he described in a letter as "the greatest place in the world...Such a delicious old inn opposite the church...such beautiful forest scenery...such an out of the way rural place!".

From 1933 to 1974 Chigwell formed together with Buckhurst Hill
Buckhurst Hill
Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. Located adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London, it forms part of the Greater London Urban Area.- Overview :...

 and Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...

 the Chigwell Urban District
Chigwell Urban District
Chigwell was a local government district in south west Essex, England. It contained the settlements of Chigwell, Loughton and Buckhurst Hill; and formed part of the Metropolitan Police District.-Formation:...

. Parish councils were re-established for the parishes of Buckhurst Hill
Buckhurst Hill
Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. Located adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London, it forms part of the Greater London Urban Area.- Overview :...

, Chigwell, and Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...

 in 1996.

A small area of the original parish was attached to London Borough of Redbridge
London Borough of Redbridge
The London Borough of Redbridge is a London borough in outer north-east London. Its administrative headquarters is at Redbridge Town Hall in Ilford. The local authority is Redbridge London Borough Council.-Etymology:...

 when it was created in 1965; this area is now known as the Manford estate which still uses the Chigwell area name and postcode.

The hamlet of Chigwell Row lies towards the east of Chigwell near Lambourne
Lambourne
Lambourne is a civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. It is located approximately 4.5 miles South of Epping and 5 miles North-West of Romford, it is situated entirely within the M25 motorway...

; this part of the parish is well forested and mostly rural.

Grange Hill is the area around the junction of Manor Road and Fencepiece Road/Hainault Road, extending as far as the boundary with Redbridge including the Limes Farm estate.

RAF Chigwell

From 1933 to 1958 there was an RAF presence based at Roding Valley Meadows (near what is now the David Lloyd Leisure Centre). It served first to provide barrage balloon
Barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...

 protection during the Second World War and was involved in the rollout of Britain's coastal nuclear early warning system during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

. In 1953 it briefly housed the RAF contingent taking part in the Coronation celebrations. Some of the RAF Chigwell site is now part of the local nature reserve
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

, Roding Valley Meadows LNR.

Property

Chigwell has a population of around 12,500 and is generally considered a wealthy area, which since the TV series Essex Wives
Essex Wives
Essex Wives is a 2002 television documentary series featuring women living in Essex, England.The ITV programme featured Jodie Marsh and led to her career and fame as a topless model. The show caused the press to use the nickname golden triangle to describe the settlements of Chigwell, Buckhurst...

, journalists have called (with Loughton and Buckhurst Hill), the Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 golden triangle. The area is characterised by large suburban houses, notably in Manor Road, Hainault Road and Chigwell High Road, which featured in the popular English situation comedy Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather
Birds of a Feather was a British sitcom that was broadcast on BBC1 from 1989 until 1998. Starring Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, it was created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, who also wrote some of the episodes along with many other writers.The first episode sees sisters...

 (although many of the outside locations used in that programme were not in Chigwell).

Education

Schools in the area include Chigwell Primary School, Limes Farm Infants & Junior School, West Hatch High School
West Hatch High School
West Hatch High School is a secondary school located in Chigwell, Epping Forest, Essex . The area now occupied by West Hatch was previously the western gate into Epping Forest; it is from these roots that the school derives its name...

 and most notably Chigwell School
Chigwell School
Chigwell School is an English co-educational independent school/public school in Chigwell, in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It was founded in 1629 by Samuel Harsnett, a former Archbishop of York . There are around 730 pupils aged between 7 and 18 years...

, a public school, which was founded from a bequest by Samuel Harsnett
Samuel Harsnett
Samuel Harsnett , born Samuel Halsnoth, was an English writer on religion and Archbishop of York from 1629.- Early life :...

, Archbishop of York, in 1629, among whose many famous past pupils are William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...

, who later went on to found Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, and actor Sir Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...

. The diarist John Aubrey
John Aubrey
John Aubrey FRS, was an English antiquary, natural philosopher and writer. He is perhaps best known as the author of the collection of short biographical pieces usually referred to as Brief Lives...

 recorded that it was at Chigwell School that Penn had a mystical vision, which influenced his later conversion to Quakerism. The original 17th-century schoolroom where Penn was taught still stands, and is now the school library.

Sport and leisure

Tottenham Hotspur football club has its training facilities in the area, and runs training sessions for local youth on the Limes Farm estate through the summer months. Many past and present players and staff have homes in the area. Leyton Orient Football Club
Leyton Orient F.C.
Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

 also have a training ground in Chigwell, adjacent to Chigwell School's fields.

A David Lloyd Leisure Centre is situated off Roding Road by the M11 motorway
M11 motorway
The M11 motorway in England is a major road running approximately north from the North Circular Road in South Woodford in north-east London to the A14, north-west of Cambridge.-Route:...

, which offers indoor and outdoor tennis courts, swimming pools and gymnasium. Also in the area are a Holmes Place Health Club, Top Golf playing Centre and Chigwell Golf Club. Chigwell Cricket Club is based at the Old Chigwellians Club in Roding Lane. The town is also included in a number of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 loop walks, which start in the city and passes through the outskirts of the capital.

There are two pubs, The King William IV and Ye Olde King's Head , which is said to be the Maypole Inn in Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

' Barnaby Rudge
Barnaby Rudge
Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty is a historical novel by British novelist Charles Dickens. Barnaby Rudge was one of two novels that Dickens published in his short-lived weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock...

.

There is a local nature reserve
Local Nature Reserve
Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

 at Roding Valley Meadows http://www.essexwt.org.uk/visitor_centres__nature_reserves/roding_valley_meadows/ off Roding Lane which follows the River Roding
River Roding
The River Roding is a river in England that rises near Dunmow, flows through Essex and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames in London....

 up to Loughton
Loughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...

.

Bus

All bus services are TfL
TFL
TFL may refer to:* Tasmanian Football League, an Australian rules football competition* Tensor fasciae latae muscle, a thigh/hip muscle* Transport for London, a public transport organisation in the London area* The Flaming Lips, an American rock band...

 services, except route X5 and school routes 43, 804. Routes 150 and X5 only serve Chigwell Row
Chigwell Row
Chigwell Row is a small village falling within the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located 12.9 miles north east of Charing Cross. It has a London area code, is served by London Buses route 150, and the closest London Underground station is Grange Hill....

. Routes 362 and 462 only serve Grange Hill
Grange Hill
Grange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...

.

London Underground

Chigwell is served by Chigwell station and Grange Hill station (further south bordering Hainault), both on the Central line
Central Line
The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and, at , has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground. Of the 49 stations served, 20 are below ground...

 of the London Underground. For a more frequent service to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 there is also nearby Buckhurst Hill, Loughton and Hainault stations since services between Grange Hill and Woodford are limited, most terminating at Hainault.

Famous residents

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     , actress, Clo Granger in Waterloo Road
    Waterloo Road (TV series)
    Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...

    , born in Chigwell
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    , athlete, pupil at West Hatch High School
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    West Hatch High School is a secondary school located in Chigwell, Epping Forest, Essex . The area now occupied by West Hatch was previously the western gate into Epping Forest; it is from these roots that the school derives its name...

  • Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, Royal Navy officer, lived at Rolls (demolished 1953)
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    The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...

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    , footballer, captain of the 1966 FIFA World Cup
    1966 FIFA World Cup
    The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...

    -winning England team
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    Teddy Sheringham
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    , creator of the London megabus
    Bus
    A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

    , buried at St. Mary's, the parish church
  • Kate Silverton
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    , BBC newsreader, pupil at West Hatch High School
    West Hatch High School
    West Hatch High School is a secondary school located in Chigwell, Epping Forest, Essex . The area now occupied by West Hatch was previously the western gate into Epping Forest; it is from these roots that the school derives its name...

  • Alan Sugar
    Alan Sugar
    Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British entrepreneur, media personality and political advisor. From humble origins in the East End of London, Sugar now has an estimated fortune of £770m , and was ranked 89th in the Sunday Times Rich List 2011...

    , entrepreneur, former owner of Amstrad
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    Amstrad is a British electronics company, now wholly owned by BSkyB. As of 2006, Amstrad's main business is manufacturing Sky Digital interactive boxes....

    , host of The Apprentice
    The Apprentice (UK)
    The Apprentice is a British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to win a £100,000-a-year job as an apprentice to the British business magnate Lord Sugar in series one to six...

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    Didier Zokora
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External links

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